KUALA LUMPUR TOURISM AMBASSADOR STORY COLLECTION Name: Mohd Irwan Syah Bin Ariffin Date: 01/03/2016 Time: 10am - 2pm Venue: KLCC No. Of Tourists : 9 Groups (22 Pax)

My first tourist who approached me was a lecturer from Scotland who came here for conferences around the Peninsular, she came to me and said "I will definitely ask you some questions" as she was referring to the huge "Ask Me" sign on my vest. It seems like she was testing my knowledge on as well as other states of . We had a wonderful chat about places of interest that she was interested in visiting. She praised me for my assistance and knowledge of Malaysia before leaving with a happy smile.

Name: Mohd Irwan Syah Bin Ariffin Date: 02/03/2016 Time: 10am - 2pm

Venue: No. of Tourists : 10 Groups (22 Pax)

I assisted a couple of tourist from various countries through out my duty period. However, the experience in assisting a couple from the UK that day is worthy to be shared around. They ran to chase me as I was walking to change my spot from Fahrenheit to .

At first they were just asking for a map. But unfortunately I was out of it that day, I gave them the HOHO brochure instead, which I shared with them some interesting spots around KL. We had a good 20 minutes of a fruitful conversation despite standing under the scorching sun. They told me that they were amaze at how developed and modern we are, they said that their expectations of Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia as a whole is way off.

Taking that as a chance, I promoted Central Market, Dataran Merdeka, HoHo Bus, Melaka and . I shared with them some informations about Baba and Nyonya, our delicious foods and things to see and do. They were so eager to explore and indulge themselves into the things that I had mentioned to them. They left England roughly 6 months ago and currently on a world tour adventure.

They said that they need to reschedule their itinerary as the number of days they estimated for KL is definitely too short due to their first expectations of Malaysia. They will come back to KL again after Australia in a week or two. Things like this always makes me feel pleased and happy knowing that I had attracted more people to learn and experience the cultures, food and attractions that we have. Name: Nurul Khairunnisa Date: 05 March 2016

Venue: Dataran Merdeka Time: 10.00am - 2.00pm

It has been a while since the last duty I did at Dataran Merdeka . The weather was quite hot that day. I walked around Dataran Merdeka, from one end to another end. There were lot of buses brought tourists who just disembarked from the cruise ship which stopped at Pulau Indah port.

They were coming mostly from Canada and few other countries in Europe. I met with the tour bus driver who saw the word 'KL Tourism Ambassador' stiched on my vest. So, he asked me what am I doing at Dataran Merdeka.

He thought that I am a tour guide. Well, I explained to him who am I and what am I doing at Dataran Merdeka. He said that it is a good effort to have this KLAP program. I met with these couples who came from Sweden (as per picture below). I saw them seems like searching for something. So, I approached them and asked if I can assist them. I helped them guiding to old railway station. They were impressed with this program and glad that there’s someone could help them guiding their way. Name: Asyraf Date: 17th March 2016 Time: 1.30pm – 5.30pm

Venue: Bukit Bintang No of Tourist attended: 16 pax

The day was burning hot when I started my duty and I walk to Bukit Bintang Monorail Station from . I decided to take pass from Pavilion Concierge(mind to prepare with the approval letter) and continue walking around pavillion, Star Hill Gallery, Fahrenheit and Lot10. After almost 2 hours dealing with the sweat, I decided to have a short break with a glass of Ice Coffee before getting back on duty. The weather getting better on that time and tourist start to walk slow as it gave me chances to approach them.

The tourists were asking for hotel directions, Low Yat, Berjaya Times Square and Jalan Alor. There was a guy from Australia, Nick. At first he asking for clarification, which side of the monorail coming from KL Sentral because her girlfriend coming from there, then he asked me which places best to go as they are not going to continue their plan going to Tioman for some reasons. I suggested Perhentian and Redang Island as they like to see beautiful beach of Malaysia with only 3 days time left. I ended my duty when the rain start pouring down. Now enoying a glass of Teh Tarik as the rain won't allow me to make my way home. Thanks.. Bukit Bintang really improve my stamina.. Haha.. Name: Muhd Rifhan Mohd Hussin Date: 12th March 2016 Time: 10.00-14.00

Venue: Bukit Bintang No of Tourists Attended : 20 pax

My day start with one lovely couple from Hong Kong inquiry on Pavillion. Like others has experienced, BB has never stop getting people/tourist from different country. The most strategic area potential to get tourist is at Monorail escalator/Big Cube. All tourist that I have helped were very friendly but some of them were rushing.

Some tourist a little bit confused due to construction going on when they unable to find a way to across the road to other building especially at MC Donald area. Most of the tourists love to asked direction to Pavillion, Times Square, Sungei Wang Plaza, KLCC. There is one tourist from China searching for Chamber Music. That was my 1st time hearing such place but I try my best to help her and finally we manage to identify the location whereby the Chamber Music was located in the Sungei Wang Plaza. She is very happy and I'm glad about it. The best moment that I have to day when a tourist pair of two inquiry on Bukit Bintang Plaza. They were very friendly and manage to take picture together. As a token of their friendliness I give them I LOVE KL pen. They were so happy. I managed to help tourist from Hong Kong, China, Korea, India, Taiwan and America. Name: Siti Quraishah Zainuddin Date: 29 March 2016 | Time: 1.30pm - 5.30pm

Venue: KLCC No of tourists attended: 10

I was very excited for my shift today since it was my first duty at KLCC. I started to walk around near the fountain to see if anyone would be needing my assistance. Turns out a lot of tourist approach me but not to ask for directions, but to just greet me or ask me to take pictures of them. So, I would try to invite them to have a conversation and present them with the souvenir. They were very happy to get the souvenir and thanked me as if I just gave them diamond or gold. I guess that means they really appreciate the souvenir and didn't expect to receive such warm and friendly gestures from us ambassadors. One odd occurrence that happened during my shift was that when I gave the pen to the Japanese man (he is included in the picture below), he refuse to take it and shook his head incessantly and keep on saying 'No'. I was surprised that he didn't want the pen! Then, his wife asked me 'How much?' I realized that the Japanese man thought I was selling the pens! Then, I quickly told them it's free and it's a gift. As soon as they understood, they laughed and let out a big smile and keep on saying "Arigato''. I found the incident funny since they thought that I'm some salesperson trying to sell pens to tourists. To conclude, my duty today went smoothly and I managed to familiarize myself with KLCC. Name: Muhamad Fatih Azka Date: 25 March 2016 | Time: 2.00pm – 6.00pm

Venue: KLCC No. of Tourists attended: 47

I started and finished my shift late, as I had to perform jumuah prayer first which finished at 2 pm (The shift should be started at 1.30 pm-5.30). I managed to help a lot of tourists who come from all over the world, from taking pictures for them, giving them directions, until sharing experiences with them. 1. I met Meng, she is from China. Firstly, she asked me how to get to Pavilion from KLCC, after I answered it, I gave her information about Go KL, she didn’t know it before that there are free buses with wifi in the city. Then, she told me her experiences she got since the last 10 days she has been staying here. She visited Langkawi and . She told me excitedly that KL is not what she previously thought of. KL is not that prosperous according to her imagination before stepping her foot here. She was amazed by the development in the city. Apart from that, she compared the weather of KL and Bangkok. She feels very comfortable in Malaysia. She will leave on 7th April. I chatted with her like she doesn’t want to stop our conversation until finally rain separated us. 2. I helped a lot of tourists to take their pictures. They are from Argentina, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, Bangladesh, Sudan, Qatar, China, Indonesia, and U.S. Some of them asked me whether they should pay me or not, I told them I am volunteering for KLTB, and I offer free service for tourists. 3. There was a family from China asked me how to go to playground for children in KLCC park. 4. There were many tourists asked me about the show time of dancing fountain in front of Suria KLCC, and the Hop on hop off (Luckily, I got the brochures of the HOHO bus at MATIC yesterday, as KL City Gallery was running out of it).